lucy in the woods with diamonds
by embraidery
Summary: Queen Lucy skips out on a meeting to gallivant in the forest. Snowball fight happens.


It was the sort of chilly morning that meant that Lucy never wanted to get out of bed. She was wearing wool socks, wool long johns, and a nightgown, but as soon as she shifted even a little cold air rushed in under her blankets to bite her. She snuggled deeper into her nest, tucking the edges of her blankets underneath her, and awaited the arrival of her maid.

"Good morning, Queen Lucy!" her maid Peaches chirped, knocking on the door.

"Good morning!" Lucy called back. Cold air rushed in from the hallway as the door opened, and she pulled her blanket more snugly around her chin.

"Breakfast is in half an hour, and the meeting with the diplomats from Archenland is after that."

"I'm much too sick," Lucy moaned, pinching her nose to make her voice more nasal.

"Oh no!" Peaches came over to look at her. "Do you need the healer?"

Lucy tried to hide her face under her blanket. "It's just a cold."

"I'll bring you breakfast," Peaches decided. "What would you like?"

"Porridge, please, and bacon!" Lucy perked up at the thought.

"Of course, Queen Lucy." Peaches added a log to the fire before swishing out the door.

After breakfast, Lucy waited until Peaches took the dishes away to get dressed in her warmest clothes, including her favourite fur-lined cloak. She ducked out of her room and made her way through the hallways with the least foot traffic. She made it outside and took a big gulp of wintry air.

Winter always reminded her of the first time she came to Narnia, though this winter was better than that first one. It was a little warmer by the thermometer. It also felt warmer in a way Lucy couldn't quite articulate. These forests beckoned one to come in and explore, unlike her first visit, when the trees looked awfully foreboding. Lucy closed her eyes and turned in circles, enjoying the wintry quiet. Then she caught giant snowflakes in her hands and watched them melt into little puddles.

Suddenly, something smacked her in the head! She shrieked and whirled around. Edmund was behind her, already shaping a new snowball.

"I thought you were sick?" he smirked. "The Archenlandish diplomats will be sad to miss you."

Lucy could feel warmth flooding into her frozen cheeks. "I-" She paused. "You're skipping the meeting, too!"

"Oh no," Edmund said. "I'm just looking in on my sister who isn't feeling well. It's not my fault she wasn't in her room and I had to look for her." He winked.

Lucy stalled while she strategised. "I'm sure they won't see why you had to leave an important meeting to check on your sister. After all, it's only a cold!" All the while she walked backwards until she ended up in the forest. Lucy ducked behind a tree just as Edmund let his new snowball fly. She shrieked as the missile hit the tree, sending snow flying.

"I can be very charming when I want to be," Edmund said. He made his way into the edge of the forest, keeping an eye on Lucy, but tripped on a log. Her snowball hit him square on the back. He caught himself just before hitting the ground.

"Charm doesn't protect you from snowballs!" Lucy called smugly.

"Why, you little-" Edmund growled. He stalked towards Lucy. She laughed and began running. Edmund tackled her to the ground and flipped her over to rub snow in her face.

Lucy sniffled and brought both hands up to her face.

"Oh, Lu, are you okay?" Edmund pulled away to give Lucy space.

Lucy laughed and jumped to her feet. "Gotcha!" She used her head start to good advantage, hiding in a little knot of trees.

"I can see you there, Lu!" Edmund shouted. A snowball smacked him in the face.

"That's it. I'm not going to show you any mercy!" Edmund ducked into his own copse of trees and began stockpiling snowballs. The war was on.

The score was about 12 - 10 in Lucy's favour when a challenger entered the ring.

"Ed? Lu?"

Both peeked between slender tree trunks to see Peter walking into the forest. He cupped his hands around his mouth as he called again,

"Lu-cy, Ed-mund! I know you're out here!"

Lucy was suddenly grateful she'd removed her crimson cloak a few moments before. It would be very visible against the snow. She waited with bated breath to see what would happen: she wouldn't put it past Edmund to throw the first snowball.

Peter walked past Lucy's copse. She was about to sigh in relief when he spotted her cloak.

"You can't just pretend to be sick to miss a meeting, Lu," Peter said, bending down to pick up her cloak. "We-"

_Smack. _Lucy couldn't help but laugh as Peter took a snowball right to the face. "Gorgeous throw, Ed!" Edmund whooped in response.

"Well, don't say you didn't ask for it!" Peter called, shaping up a snowball. Lucy darted out of her hiding place while he was distracted and found a new group of trees to hide in. Snowballs whistled past her head and smacked against tree trunks. Lucy cheered as one of hers connected with Peter's ear, though she stopped laughing when she took a snowball to the gut. All three siblings began to shed their warmest outer layers.

Peter was nearly in the lead (though Lucy and Edmund maintained this was because he came in when they were already tired) when Susan arrived on the scene. Hands on hips, she marched down the meadow into the woods.

"Don't you dare," she told Edmund, who slowly lowered the snowball he was about to throw. "What do you all have to say for yourselves?"

Three pink-cheeked, panting teenagers looked back at her. They could have heard a Talking Squirrel clean its tail in the silence that followed her question.

"Well, what I have to say is…" Susan paused, bent down, and scooped up some snow. She deftly packed it into a sphere. "I'm going to skunk you!"

With that, all four Pevensies threw snowballs with a vengeance, Archenlandish diplomats long forgotten.


End file.
